Hope you had a fun Christmas feasting & partying! But with all those late nights of wining & dining, you will notice fine lines and dark circles around your precious eye area. That’s why I’ve been applying REGEN Cosmetic’s Premium Gold Eye & Spot Patch to prevent those late nights from showing.

The usage of Gold in skincare products are popular nowadays for its anti-aging properties. But Gold has already been long used by the Japanese, Romans & Egyptians for various skin treatments for its miracle effect on the skin. Cleopatra was known to use a gold mask every night to maintain her youthful good looks! Gold has been known to stimulate the basal cells of the skin, hence reducing fine lines, wrinkles and blemishes, making one’s appearance more youthful. The ions present in gold help stimulate cells, nerves & veins in the body which improves blood circulation which in turn increases the metabolism of skin cells & expulsion of waste. It also prevents premature aging by preventing dryness in the skin. Gold is also known to reduce the production of melanin hence preventing blemishes from Sun exposure. Collagen production is also increased with the presence of Gold. To sum up, Gold is beneficial to our skin in various ways. It slows down collagen depletion, increases skin elasticity, lightens complexion and stimulates skin cells making skin firmer and younger looking.

With REGEN Cosmetics’ Premium Gold & Spot Patch, gold is incorporated into its hydrogel patches (Hydrogel reacts to body temperature that closely adheres to the skin and helps the absorption of active ingredients) for its wonderful benefits. It is formulated in gel like patches that is rich in moisture for easy application and maximum cohesion to deliver its essence straight into your skin.

The tub consists of 30 pairs of eye patches and 30 pieces of spot patches. Spot patches can be used anywhere on the skin which requires treatment like between the eyebrows for frown lines, on your forehead for expression lines or as shown in my photo for laugh lines etc.

After a 20-30 minute application of the patches, you will notice a visible reduction in volume of the patch as most of the essence has been absorbed into your skin and the fine lines are plumped up appearing less visible. Do not throw away this residual thin film. You can further melt it down with hot distilled water and use the remaining essence on the rest of your face!

REVIEW:

After the first application I did notice an obvious decrease in fine lines under by eye. Also, the area looked brighter and dark eye rings are less obvious. I have been using this nightly for about a week, and my under eye area has visibly improved in elasticity and looks smoother and less tired. The remaining melted essence is also added onto my nightly regime under my moisturiser acting as a serum. I love it!

REGEN is a household name for most Koreans as they are the largest leading beauty medical group that provides services like plastic surgery, dermatology & dentistry. Since 2010 REGEN received the Grand Prize of Medical Korea every year and they are the no.1 brand in the plastic surgery part of the Korean Customer Satisfaction Index.

Dr. Kim Woo Jung, Director of REGEN Clinic, who is ahead of his time, went ahead and developed cosmetics to reflect the distinct characteristics of cosmetic surgery and help the cubic effect. As a result he founded a way to provide a off-the-counter mask to satisfy Asia’s thirst to achieve a small & cubic face through the 2 Step Synergy Effect Mask & V Fill-Up Mask.

I got myself some of their masks to try out and was eager to see the effects of a more V-Shaped and firmer face. (who doesn’t want a slimmer firmer face with smooth pore-less skin?!) Did some research and managed to find out the key ingredients used in their masks. As the packaging is entirely in Korean, I did up a simple table of the key ingredients in English to share with all of you!

The above list is for the 5 different mask types the REGEN has for the 2 Step Synergy Effect Masks. They all carry the same 2nd step mask for the V-Shaping effect. This mask uses Halophyte, which is an ingredient from the polar region, to help moisture circulation of the skin to provide a sharper face contour. It reduces water retention in the jawline area making the face look slimmer and more picture perfect.

I decided to try out the masks for pores first as I am most concerned with my open pores around my cheeks. The application of the mask is fairly straight forward with the only difference of the V-shaping mask in step 2. Since the instructions is entirely in Korean, this video helps a lot with the application of the mask just to ensure we are using it right.

Apply the sheet mask as Step 1

Step 2 – V-Shaping mask

Leave the mask on for a minimum of 20 minutes. I removed the step 1 mask after about 25 minutes but left the shaping mask on for an additional 10 minutes hoping to get better results.

Immediately, I went to the mirror to check my pores and miraculously they were shut tight. The exact results I wanted! As you can see from the photo below with my make-up free face.

That additional 10 minutes came up and I removed the step 2 mask. I could tell that my jawline was slightly smaller. So I used the mask again on the following night to enforce the results. This time I found jawline slimmer and sharper looking with the puffiness of water retention gone.

Results: I would say that this mask is really effective in both the pore reduction and V-shaping. Especially so for those of you who tend to have a rounder face from water retention and fatty deposits and not because of bone structure. (Why I emphasise on bone structure is because I have a squarer jawline on one side compared to the other and this won’t make my face magically symmetrical, just smaller and sharper) The pressure applied from the V-Shaping mask applies a comfortable but firm pressure that tightens the skin tone and flushes away excessive fluids in the unwanted areas including your double chin.

It’s no wonder that Paris Hilton unveiled that REGEN’s Synergy mask is her secret go-to mask especially on plane rides.

This mask is really worth a try and I am always a fan of home facials, using masks on myself every night to maintain a naturally healthy youthful looking skin. (A hardworking girl will always be beautiful ;P)

It is available in:

Hong Kong – Watsons at HKD$187.50/box of 5 or HKD$37.50/piece

Singapore – http://www.hermo.sg/flagship/regencos.html at SGD$32.20/box of 5 or SGD$7/piece

Look out for my next blog post of REGEN’s V Fill-Up Mask for smoothening out fine lines and wrinkles on top of reshaping your face shape naturally.

Ever since I came to Hong Kong, I didn’t have the luxury to visit Mosche Hair Salon back home (Singapore) as often as I would love to to maintain my locks. So I had to find DIY home-care kits to give my hair the much needed moisture boost every month especially with the constant heat styling done to my hair due to my job nature. This is my to-go-to “steamer” for my hair that does wonders and gives me that same salon quality treatment, leaving my hair soft, filled with moisture and luscious! This simple kit consists of only the heater cap and a matching coloured fabric shower cap. Safe and easy to use. I’ll use this together with facial masks when I’m watching my favourite dramas in the evening after a shower.

Here’s how to use it:

Step 1

Wash your hair with a scalp cleansing/anti-pollution shampoo. I use Rene Furterer Forticea for a cleaner scalp and prevent thinning hair.

Rinse off shampoo and apply a light layer of conditioner (just to be able to comb through the wet hair more easily to apply treatment). Rinse conditioner off. Towel dry.

Comb in the hair mask throughout your hair and avoid your scalp area. I would emphasise more on the ends as its usually a lot more dry and prone to breakage in my case.

Step 3

After hair mask/treatment is throughly applied throughout, twist your hair up into a bun for those with long hair and place the fabric shower cap over as such.

Step 4

Now place the heater cap over the shower cap. Avoiding your ears. And flick the switch on (lights will light up). Simple. Leave it on for about 20 minutes. The heating coil in the hear cap will slowly heat up. With water left behind in your towel-dried hair together with the hair mask, steam will form inside the hair mask enabling the hair mask to better work its magic on your hair.

Step 5

After 20 minutes, switch off the heating cap. Remove it and rinse out your hair with cold water. Cold water will help close up your hair follicles and trap in the moisture absorbed from the mask. And you are set to blow dry your newly revitalised hair!

This DIY kit saves a lot of time and money as I can use it as and when I want to even at 3am in the morning. Great for people who hates visiting the salon and sitting there for hours to get your hair done!

This hair steamer cap can be found in various online stores and costs between USD$10-15 depending on stores. Girls… time to hunt it down!